The relationship between inquiry-based teaching and students’ achievement. New evidence from a longitudinal PISA study in England

Jerrim, John; Oliver, Mary; Sims, Sam

Abstract

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Inquiry-based science teaching involves supporting pupils to acquire scientific knowledge indirectly by conducting their own scientific experiments, rather than receiving scientific knowledge directly from teachers. This approach to instruction is widely used among science educators in many countries. However, researchers and policymakers have recently called the effectiveness of inquiry approaches into doubt. Using nationally-representative, linked survey and administrative data, we find little evidence that the frequency of inquiry-based instruction is positively associated with teenagers’ performance in science examinations. This finding is robust to the use of different measures of inquiry, different examinations/measures of attainment, across classrooms with varying levels of disciplinary standards and across gender and prior attainment subgroups.

Citation

Jerrim, J., Oliver, M., & Sims, S. (2019). The relationship between inquiry-based teaching and students’ achievement. New evidence from a longitudinal PISA study in England. Learning and Instruction, 61, 35-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.12.004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 17, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 11, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-06
• Deposit Date: May 12, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 12, 2020
• Journal: Learning and Instruction
• Print ISSN: 0959-4752
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-3263
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 61
• Pages: 35-44
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.12.004
• Keywords: Education; Developmental and Educational Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1872482
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095947521830361X?via%3Dihub